Velvet knelt, gasping to catch her breath. Nebula brought her right leg high and then kicked downward. Velvet thrust the two pieces of her spear upward and crossed them, catching Nebula’s leg. The force of the blow pushed her into the sand.

Nebula launched herself upward with her pinned leg to free herself. Velvet dropped the broken staff and tried to pull herself out of the sand, but she was stuck.

Nebula landed behind Velvet. She walked calmly around her and picked up the pieces of her spear.

“We’re done here,” Nebula said. “You should go back to Vale.”

Velvet kept scrambling in the sand, but she couldn’t dig herself out. Finally her shoulders slumped and she stopped moving.

But Rumpole said, “Keep fighting.”

“What?” Coco called out.

“I beat her!” Nebula reached a hand down to help Velvet up.

Rumpole stalked out to the arena. “No, she beat herself,” she said. “You don’t stop fighting until you can’t fight anymore.”

“Look at her,” said Coco, hurrying out to the arena. “Velvet can’t even get up. And you expect her to keep fighting?”

Rumpole consulted her Scroll. “She has Aura enough to continue.”

A moment later Yatsuhashi, Fox, and Arslan followed Coco. Yatsuhashi reached down, grabbed Velvet’s shoulders gently, and slowly lifted her from the sand. As soon as she was back on her feet, she pushed his hands away.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Rumpole asked Coco.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Coco said.

“Velvet isn’t your teammate anymore. You aren’t responsible for her.”

“Everyone, stop. I’m not hurt.” Velvet brushed sand off her clothes.

- RWBY: Before the Dawn, Chapter 7